Aligning stakeholder goals: Implications for inclusive urban sustainability

The implementation of local sustainability policies is often hampered by differences between multi-level policy goals and the development priorities of local stakeholders. This study evaluates how an assessment of the differences between public, national, and international sustainable development priorities, such as the SDGs, might inform inclusive sustainability policies at the local level. Specifically, this paper aims to demonstrate the use of multi-stakeholder goal-alignment assessment through content analysis and public opinion surveys administered in three cities across Henan Province, China. The findings 1) draw from the systematic assessment of stakeholder priorities to identify three typologies of goal-alignment or misalignment that have implications for the design of initiatives that offer co-benefits and for the mediation of trade-offs in meeting sustainability goals, and 2) demonstrate an integrative approach to developing urban sustainability policies and programs using both top-down prescriptive sustainability goals and human-centered experiential priorities.